Tents & Party Rentals

Download PDF:  Please B Seated Women in Events

NEW YORK, NY, JUNE 2014–On Wednesday June 11th, New York event rental company Please B Seated will host a Women in the Event Industry party at the Top of the Garden event space. The fête will feature three female caterers: Alison Mesrop, Judy Marlow of Simply Divine Catering, and Melody Ordenak of Eventfull.

Guests will include members of the catering, hosting, event planning, event staffing, event space, and publishing industries.

While discussing an event for Please B Seated to host, John Dawson, the principal, and Diane McDonald, the event director, began considering how many of their clients were women. Although women are often underrepresented in commercial kitchens and as entrepreneurs, in catering and event planning they flourish. It was time to celebrate this!

“I believe that women flourish in the catering business because there are no limitations on them,” said Judy Marlow, who stared Simply Divine in 1986. While “the restaurant business is based in the kitchen on the hierarchy that came out of traditional male dominated French kitchens.”

“Having three daughters, it’s so encouraging to discover industries that not only welcome women but where they are prospering,” said Dawson. “In this case the industry was one I’m quite familiar with.”

Alison Mesrop started in the “industry” as a child making meals when her parents entertained. Now her company serves clients like WNYC and Rosie O’Donnell.

“My business evolved at a perfect pace. I never felt scared or that I was taking a risk,” said Mesrop. “I think the most difficult thing for me was, and continues to be, charging enough money for my services.  I think this is typical of many women, especially if they love what they do.”

Maria McBride, who will be in attendance, works in another side of the event industry: planning. She spent years working on entertainment and event publications before planning events herself.

“Despite the comfort that came with a corporate job, I’ve always preferred working for myself. Once I became a mom, opting for working for myself gave me the flexibility to be a hands on mom and continue my career in the world of publishing which lead to special events and projects of all sorts,” said McBride. “I grew up with seven sisters and an assertive mom, I went to a female college and have counted the women in my life as a gift. I find women are generally more aware of the details, sensitive to the big picture, naturally multitask, and pitch in to get the job done. Key ingredients to successful events.”

“Hosting an event to celebrate women in the event industry at Top of the Garden was an obvious choice,” said McDonald. The loft space is not only a beautiful party spot, but it is owned by another woman in the event industry: Ashley Jurgensen. She immediately understood the event’s message and meaning. McDonald and Jurgensen have worked on various events together.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with such a great group of women,” said Dawson.

Please B Seated is excited to shine a light on women in the event industry.

For more information:

Please B Seated: https://pleasebseated.com/

Top of the Garden: http://www.totg.biz/

Simply Divine Catering: http://www.simplydivine.com/

Alison Mesrop: http://www.alisonmesrop.com/

Eventfull: http://www.eventfullnyc.com/

Maria McBride: http://www.mariamcbride.com/

About Please B Seated: Please B Seated is a new kind of full-service event rental company. They source handmade and hard-to-find items, along with all of the basic party rental needs–barware, tables, linens, and flatware and more–delivered with an emphasis on service and reliability. Principal John Dawson is a thirty-year party rental veteran. He started his career as a caterer then opened his first party rental company, TriState, in 1977. Tristate later merged with Service Party Rental to form TriServe (a Zagat top rated party rental company). With Please B Seated, Dawson wanted to offer high-quality service and uncommon products while keeping personal relationships with all of his clients. Please B Seated’s current client list includes: Amerivents, the Queens Museum, Hall of Science, Relish Catering, Go Catering, Cayenne Catering, Neiman Marcus, Le Pain Quotidien, Fig and Olive, Yvette Shandel Fine Catering Inc, and many others.

Contact Please B Seated:

Media Inquires:

Gloria Dawson

Gloria@pleasebseated.com

(p) 516-441-7412

(c) 516-721-6598

General and Event Inquires:

PleaseBSeated.com

Info@pleasebseated.com

Diane McDonald, Event Director

Diane@pleasebseated.com

(p) 646-741-4455 or 516-441-7412

Social Media:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Please-B-Seated/380695225352816

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PBSEvents

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pbseated/

Google + : https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/101690526205806505629/101690526205806505629